UPDATES, NOTES, AND WEB PAGES FOR CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1 IMAGES FOR LECTURES

Updates

Page 4. Age of the Universe. In 2013, the Universe is estimated to be about 13.9 billion years old, give or take a hundred million or two. So the Solar System (and the Earth, of course) are relatively young on that sort of time scale. The Universe should exist for at least another 24 billion years or so, but our Sun will have self-destructed long before that, leaving only a white dwarf.

Mini-Essays and Comments.

Creationism. Mini-essay and Web sites. I really don't want to spend much space on creationism. This perspective will help you to understand why: it's a no-win discussion on each side.

Life Made in the Laboratory?

In early 1999 a proposal was announced that sounded optimistic but not unrealistic: it would set out to create life in the laboratory, but using a template provided by analyzing one of the most simple living bacteria. Here are some news reports: